This is a preview of what will be our last sale before the holidays. If you love Oaxaca and are keeping track of Covid-19 there, you know that the CDC has urged us to NOT travel there. All the social media groups I belong to warn of the same: Covid-19 is raging, hospitals are full and it is dangerous to go. In the absence of tourism, artisans are struggling. You can help by making a purchase here to directly support them.
Assortment of Las Sanjuaneras blusas and huipiles–15 pieces total
I have just received a small shipment of textiles from Las Sanjuaneras Cooperative in the remote coastal village of San Juan Colorado. These pieces will go up for sale on Sunday. Shop will open at 1 PM Eastern Time on Sunday, December 6, 2020.
Maria and her niece, Aguacatenango, Chiapas
I am also expecting a limited shipment of embroidered French knot blouses from Chiapas later next week. Most will be in large and extra-large sizes.
French knots galore–embroidery from Chiapas
Also coming from Oaxaca are a few hand-woven naturally dyed tapestry rugs from Taller Teñido a Mano, along with lengths of naturally-dyed cotton that we will sell as yardage for sewists.
Indigo-dyed wool rug, Teotitlan del Valle
I work directly with the artisans so they get full value for their work. You can be assured that as soon as you buy, I send funds directly to them via Western Union that they can pick up as cash. I also use Remitly that deposits into bank accounts, if they have one.
Indigo-dyed cotton, 12-1/2″x22″ by Taller Teñido a Mano
You get something beautiful to wear or to gift. The artisan has an income to buy the necessities of life at this moment!
Cochineal dyed cotton, 12×22, Taller Teñido a Mano
In addition to cultural appropriation, there is a debate raging about what to call the hand-woven, back-strap loomed garments from Mexico that many of us know as huipiles. This is plural. The singular is huipil. (Some huipiles for sale below!)
How do you say it?
Whee-peel.
(or What do you do with a banana? We peel. — Thank you, Mary Randall)
Whee-peel-ess.
Caftan (kaftan) or tunic is a misnomer. I am reminded of this via a text message this morning from Ana Paula Fuentes, who introduced me to Las Sanjuaneras some years ago and was the founding director of the Museo Textil de Oaxaca. I promised her that you and I would have a discussion about Mexican clothing as a way to spread the word about culture.
I just want to set the record straight that I called these garments thus because it is what the American and Canadian marketplace knows and understands as a fashion definition. We’ve been acculturated since the 60’s when these garments came to us from Europe and North Africa and Asia as casual wear, beach and pool wear, loungewear. Now, with Covid-19, the idea is being reintroduced to the world of contemporary clothing as a perfect solution to comfort while we are homebound.
Let’s have the conversation: Clothing origins from Mexico deserve to be called by their true name. Huipil. Bluson. Blusa. Rebozo. Quechquemitl. Etc. And, we can spread the word about the quality of Mexico’s indigenous weaving by using the true name of the garment. People need to know these are huipiles. Not caftans or tunics.
Bluson: A short, cropped flowing version of a huipil, usually waist-length or hip-length.
Blusa: A blouse, more fitted than free-form; a universal term.
Rebozo: A shawl whose origins are from the Philippines via Spain.
Quechquemitl: A triangular pull-over shawl, scarf, cover-up that is pre-Hispanic and the first indigenous garment.
So, help us out here. When you wear one of these garments, call it a Huipil. Together, we can be influencers and talk about Mexico as being a fashion innovator rather than a follower of Euro-centric style. You give value to the weavers this way, too. Thank you.
To Buy: Please email me normahawthorne@mac.com with your name, mailing address and item number. I will mark it SOLD, send you a PayPal link to purchase and add $12 for cost of mailing. Please be sure to select Send Money to Family and Friends! We also accept Venmo and I can send you a Square invoice (+3% fee) if you don’t use PayPal.
Posted onFriday, September 11, 2020|Comments Off on Shop Open: Las Sanjuaneras Textiles Huipiles, Kaftans, Tunics
Call them huipiles, kaftans, tunics or ponchos. Whatever you call them, call them comfortable, cozy, casual cover-ups. Perfect for lounging or working from home. Perfect for a socially distant safe get-together. Perfect for feeling good in times of Covid-19 and related stress. We are looking for beauty in our lives now especially, and this is one way to attain it.
SOLD. #1. Margarita. 34×43. marigold, iron oxide, indigo. $375.
There are 27 pieces I’m offering in this collection today. Some are gauzy, light as a feather hand weaves. Some are mid-weight. Some can be used as a poncho. Others are long, short, wide, narrow or cropped. Some are size large and extra-large. Others are small and will fit the petite among us. Please scroll through and make your selection carefully. All sales are final because I will have already paid the weavers by the time I mail them.
Las Sanjuaneras weaver. Photo by Ana Paula Fuentes
100% natural dyes on native, hand-spun cotton, woven on the back strap loom, with slubs and imperfect beauty
To Buy: Please email me normahawthorne@mac.com with your name, mailing address and item number. I will mark it SOLD, send you a PayPal link to purchase and add $12 for cost of mailing. Please be sure to select Send Money to Family and Friends! We also accept Venmo and I can send you a Square invoice (+3% fee) if you don’t use PayPal.
#20. Andrea. Marigold, iron oxide, native cotton. 22-3/4×30. $195.
Note: All measurements are in inches. Width is across the front (one side). Please double for circumference. Length is shoulder to hem. Most necks have a 7-8″ opening from shoulder to V.
First come. First served. First email in gets first choice.
#A. Camerina. Guava, iron oxide, indigo. 34-1/2w x 34L. $285.
To Buy: Please email me normahawthorne@mac.com with your name, mailing address and item number. I will mark it SOLD, send you a PayPal link to purchase and add $12 for cost of mailing. Please be sure to select Send Money to Family and Friends! We also accept Venmo and I can send you a Square invoice (+3% fee) if you don’t use PayPal.
This is the last sale from Las Sanjuaneras for a while. I’m going on a road trip to the Midwest on Tuesday and won’t return until October.
You may purchase until Monday morning. I will be doing the last mailing on Monday. Please don’t wait to decide! As you know, we sold out FAST on the last two shipments from this cooperative.
To Buy: Please email me normahawthorne@mac.com with your name, mailing address and item number. I will mark it SOLD, send you a PayPal link to purchase and add $12 for cost of mailing. Please be sure to select Send Money to Family and Friends! so I don’t pay commissions. We also accept Venmo and I can send you a Square invoice (+3% fee) if you don’t use PayPal.
Textile Care: Dry clean or wash by hand. To wash, turn garment inside out. Immerse in cold water using a mild soap such as Fels Naptha or baby shampoo. Don’t use Woolite — it leeches color. Gently massage the cloth. Squeeze and roll in a towel to absorb excess water. Hang to dry. Use medium heat to iron if needed.
To Buy: Please email me normahawthorne@mac.com with your name, mailing address and item number. I will mark it SOLD, send you a PayPal link to purchase and add $12 for cost of mailing. Please be sure to select Send Money to Family and Friends! We also accept Venmo and I can send you a Square invoice (+3% fee) if you don’t use PayPal.
I promised it would give you advance notice about when I received this next shipment of 14 huipiles from Las Sanjuaneras, San Juan Colorado, Oaxaca. The box arrived today! Please keep a look-out for when I will post them for sale. It will likely be on Friday, August 21, 2020 or Saturday, August 22, 2020. Stay tuned!
Only 14 pieces because this is all by hand, limited production. Slow fashion.
The story behind receiving these huipiles: Camerina, the cooperative leader, and Ana Paula Fuentes send me photos and I select the ones I think you will most like. Camerina packages them up and takes them to the nearest town, Pinotepa Nacional, to mail to her daughter Edivigus who lives in Oaxaca. Edivigus had a few to add to the shipment. She found a Maria’s cookie box, put the textiles in a plastic bag, carefully sealed the box and sent it to me via Estafeta.
14 pieces of artisan-made huipiles, thread made by hand using a drop spindle
Estafeta is a domestic Mexican trucking company. Their shipping prices are very reasonable, however it takes two to three weeks for the package to arrive in the USA. When it gets to the border, what happens? They have an agreement with UPS Ground to transfer international packages to the Brown Trucks and get them to their destination. Very efficient, I think!
All natural dyes, hand-woven on a back-strap loom, native Oaxaca cotton
For the next day, I will hang and steam press each garment. Then, I will take the photographs and measurements. I’ll identify the weaver and which natural dyes are used for each piece. I’ll then post each photo along with the descriptive information here. It may be Friday or Saturday before I am able to complete everything.
Natural dyes include wild marigold, indigo, mahogany, beets
These are unique, one-of-a-kind hand-woven textiles made by one of the finest Oaxaca cooperatives. Since there are only 14 pieces I am offering for sale, please be sure you check back in the next few days so you don’t miss out!
Fragile cookies. Handle with care. Don’t step on the box.
Thank you for your support of this deserving group of women and for Oaxaca. All best wishes, Norma
Oh, dear, I thought. We have a textile tour to visit the cooperatives on the Oaxaca coast this January 2021. What if we don’t get there because of Covid-19? The best I can do now is bring them to us until we know if we hold this tour … or not. I contacted Las Sanjuaneras in San Juan Colorado, a pueblo located in the coastal mountains near Pinotepa Nacional. Why? Because they weave exceptionally fine garments AND they have no Internet presence for online sales — no website, no Instagram, no Facebook. They need our help.
Las Sanjuaneras weaving cooperative
15 Gorgeous Hand-woven, Naturally-Dyed Textiles for Sale
To Buy: Please email me normahawthorne@mac.com with your name, garment number, mailing address. I will mark your choice SOLD, send you a PayPal invoice and add $12 for cost of mailing.
So, I contacted Ana Paula Fuentes from the CADA Foundation. She worked with the group in the past. I selected garments from photos she sent via cooperative leader Camerina Cabrera and I prepaid shipping so Las Sanjuaneras would have no out-of-pocket expenses. As soon as the pieces sell, I will send funds to them via Western Union. It’s a win-win for all of us.
SOLD. #2. Maker: Delfina Quiroz. Dyes: nanche, indigo, almond. 38″ wide x 39″ long. $295 SOLD. #4 Maker: Brisaida. Dyes: Indigo and ferrous oxide. 34″w x 41″ long. $295
Here’s some background about Las Sanjuaneras sent by Ana Paula to share with you:
Five weavers started Las San Juaneras in the year 2000 — 20 years ago, in the Mixtec village of San Juan Colorado on Oaxaca’s Costa Chica region where 80% of the women are back-strap loom weavers and spinners. Today, their membership has grown to 16 women. Most are younger, invited by the elders to join them to keep their traditions vibrant, to become stronger, to share ideas, and to encourage and support one another.
SOLD. #5 Maker: Catalina Garcia Nejia. Dyes: wil marigold, mahogany bark. 34″ w x 41″ long. $265
To Buy: Please email me normahawthorne@mac.com with your name, garment number, mailing address. I will mark your choice SOLD, send you a PayPal invoice and add $12 for cost of mailing.
#6 by Margarita Nicolas Hernandez. Dyes: guava, wild marigold, Brazil wood, beets, iron oxide. 37″ wide x 43″ long. $325
In September 2017, Ana Paula with Maddalena Forcella were invited to collaborate with the group to build their creative competency, design innovation and quality. Their goal was to differentiate their weavings from others in the community and to create a more cohesive team. This included integrating the younger women and developing skills to transform lives in a positive, healthy and sustainable way. The important by-product was to revive and reinforce their traditional techniques and empower the community through shared knowledge.
SOLD. #7 by Delfina Quiroz. Dyes: Brazil wood, mahogany, guava, beet. 34″w x 36″ long. $295.SOLD. #8 by Delfina Quiroz. Dyes: indigo and nanche. 34″ w x 38″ long. $265.
They dye the native wild cotton that grows in the region themselves using only native plant materials — flowers, fruit, wood bark. They buy coyuchi cotton and the purple shell-dyed (caracol purpura) cotton from others in San Juan Colorado and Pinotepa de Don Luis.
Sold. #9 by Brisaida Garcia. Dyes: indigo & coyuchi. 31″ w x 45″ long. $285.Indigo-dyed cotton. Las Sanjuaneras. Photo by Ana Paula Fuentes.#11 by Camerina Cabrera. Dyes: indigo & nanche. 31-1/2″ w x 34″ long. $195.Sold #13 by Camerina Cabrera. Dyes: indigo & natural cotton. 35″ w x 41″ long. $195SOLD. #14 by Aurora Nicolas. Dyes: almond bark, indigo. 35″ w x 36″ long. $225
The garments represented here are some of the finest workmanship I am aware of in all of Oaxaca state. I hope you find something you will enjoy collecting and wearing. And, on behalf of the women, thank you for your help and support.
To Buy: Please email me normahawthorne@mac.com with your name, garment number, mailing address. I will mark your choice SOLD, send you a PayPal invoice and add $12 for cost of mailing.
SOLD. #15 by Brisaida. Dyes: mahogany, marigold, indigo. 37″ w x 40″ long. $225SOLD. #16 by Maria Ines. Dyes: mahogany, wild marigold. 36″w x 38″ long. $295.SOLD. #17 by Camerina Cabrera. Dyes: indigo, wild marigold. 21-1/2″w x 44″ long. $165.
All these garments are made with natural cotton native to the Oaxaca coast. The cotton is cleaned, beaten, and hand-spun using a malacate drop-spindle. Then the threads are dyed in the dye bath before they are put onto the back-strap loom. The process is labor-intensive and painstakingly precise. This is the work of women (and some men are now learning) that goes back centuries, millenia! Most learned to weave starting at age eight. Only a few are masters at spinning.
Las Sanjuaneras weaver. Photo by Ana Paula Fuentes
To Buy: Please email me normahawthorne@mac.com with your name, garment number, mailing address. I will mark your choice SOLD, send you a PayPal invoice and add $12 for cost of mailing.
Norma Writes for Selvedge Magazine Issues #89 + #109
Creating Connectionand Meaning between travelers and with indigenous artisans. Meet makers where they live and work. Join small groups of like-minded explorers. Go deep into remote villages. Gain insights. Support cultural heritage and sustainable traditions ie. hand weaving and natural dyeing. Create value and memories. Enjoy hands-on experiences. Make a difference.
What is a Study Tour: Our programs are designed as learning experiences, and as such we talk with makers about how and why they create, what is meaningful to them in their designs, the ancient history of patterning and design, use of color, tradition and innovation, values and cultural continuity, and the social context within which they work. First and foremost, we are educators. Norma worked in top US universities for over 35 years and Eric founded the education department at Oaxaca’s textile museum. We create connection and help artisans reach people who value them and their work.
Why We Left, Expat Anthology: Norma’s Personal Essay
Norma contributes personal essay, How Oaxaca Became Home
We Contribute Two Chapters!
Click image to order yours!
Meet Makers. Make a Difference
Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC has offered programs in Mexico since 2006. We have over 30 years of university, textile and artisan development experience. See About Us.
Programs can be scheduled to meet your independent travel plans. Send us your available dates.
Designers, retailers, wholesalers, curators, universities and others come to us to develop artisan relationships, customized itineraries, study abroad programs, meetings and conferences. It's our pleasure to make arrangements.
Select Clients
*Abeja Boutique, Houston
*Selvedge Magazine-London, UK
*Esprit Travel and Tours
*Penland School of Crafts
*North Carolina State University
*WARP Weave a Real Peace
*Methodist University
*MINNA-Goods
*Smockingbird Kids
*MINNA
*University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
We offer textile experiences in our studio where we weave and work only in natural dyes.You can see the process during our textile tours, dye workshops or customized weaving experiences. Ask us for more information about these experiences, customized scheduling, and prices.
One-Day Custom Tours: Tell Us When You Want to Go!
Oaxaca has the largest and most diverse textile culture in Mexico! Learn about it.
When you visit Oaxaca immerse yourself in our textile culture: How is indigenous clothing made, what is the best value, most economical, finest available. Suitable for adults only. Set your own dates.
New--Ruta del Mezcal One-Day Tour.We start the day with pottery, visiting a master, then have lunch with a Traditional Oaxaca Cook who is the master of mole making. In Mitla, we meet with our favorite flying shuttle loom weaver, and then finish off with a mezcal tasting at a palenque you will NEVER find on your own! Schedule at your convenience!
Go on all 3 Day of the Dead Tours -- Get a 10% Discount
October 27, 2023: Day of the Dead Ocotlan Highway Tour. It’s Market Day! The biggest of the year. See special altar food and decor, visit artisans, explore culture, eat at a traditional open air cocina de humo (grill kitchen).
October 29, 2023: Teotitlan del Valle Altars and Studio Visits to natural dye and weaving artisans who invite you to their altar rooms to share family traditions. Meet a traditional beeswax candlemaker. Eat mole and mezcal in a local family comedor.
January 13-21, 2024: Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour. Very popular! Get your deposit in to reserve. For intrepid travelers. Visit 7 back-strap loom weavers. Explore the culture of cloth and community. 4 SPACES OPEN!
Stay Healthy. Stay Safe. Questions? Want TO REGISTER or more info? Send an email to Norma Schafer.
Maps: Teotitlan + Tlacolula Market
We require 48-hour advance notice for map orders to be processed. We send a printable map via email PDF after your order is received. Please be sure to send your email address. Where to see natural dyed rugs in Teotitlan del Valle and layout of the Sunday Tlacolula Market, with favorite eating, shopping, ATMs. Click Here to Buy Map After you click, be sure to check PayPal to ensure your email address isn't hidden from us. We fulfill each map order personally. It is not automatic.
Dye Master Dolores Santiago Arrellanas with son Omar Chavez Santiago, weaver and dyer, Fey y Lola Rugs, Teotitlan del Valle
